16 Facts About China That Will Make Your Mind Melt

Probably the most significant development of the past two decades is the rise of China.

We've reached a point where China's every move can make or break global markets, in many areas with a bigger impact than the U.S. Pretty soon China may be the biggest economy in the world — if it doesn't crash.

We picked out some impressive and some terrifying facts about the Middle Kingdom.

Around 140 MILLION FARMERS have had their land forcibly seized by the government in the past 17 years

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This estimate is based on data for farmland seizures from 1994 to 2006, cited in the New York Times. Since then land grabs have continued, as cities face growing pressure to sell farmland as lucrative real estate.

Indeed cities are relying more than ever on land sales for revenue, according to NBER.

Because of land grabs, Chinese farmland has shrunk by 8.33 million hectares — an area the size of South Carolina — in the past 12 years.

Beginning in 2008, China's local government loans exploded from $235 million to $1.6 TRILLION

You think America was in a housing bubble? Since 2003 Hong Kong home prices have TRIPLED

If he spent his entire yearly income on housing, the average Beijing resident could buy 6 square feet of residential property

Obviously he can't spend his entire income on housing...

A square meter of residential property in Beijing averages 12,793 yuan ($2,000) per square meter, according to Le Monde. Meanwhile the average per capita income is only 24,000 yuan, according to Asia Times.

16,810 CHINESE COAL MINERS have died in accidents in the past five years

There are nearly 500 MILLION CHINESE who live on less than two dollars a day

China averages 493 mass protests EVERY DAY

Chinese academics estimate there were 180,000 protests, strikes and other mass disturbances last year, according to the Telegraph. Civil unrest is increasing in the face of food inflation, corruption and other pressures.

China's enormous Gobi Desert is the size of Peru and expanding 1,400 square miles per year due to water source depletion, over-foresting, and over-grazing

China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world combined

China carried out at least 1,718 executions in 2008, three times as many as the rest of the world, according to Amnesty International. Some analysts put the yearly figure closer to 6,000.

To speed things up, they use mobile execution vans, according to USA Today:

"Makers of the death vans say the vehicles and injections are a civilized alternative to the firing squad, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely. The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China "promotes human rights now," says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van in which "Devil" Zhang took his final ride."

China has THE WORLD'S LARGEST MILITARY, with 3.5 million active and reserve personnel. By comparison America has under 3 million people.